Beth wasn't exactly sure how long she'd holding the crossbow at the ready, but her arms were starting to ache. She wasn't sure what she was tracking, either, but it was pretty big. A deer or a boar, maybe. She shifted her grip in an effort to find some small relief as she kept her eyes on the trail. Daryl was close behind her, but she could hardly hear him. She knew he would never ditch her, but she still checked once or twice to make sure he was still there. Each time he met her eyes for just a second before making some sort of "go on" sound or gesture.

Their group had finally reunited in its entirety, with several new additions, and they were on their way north. The new people seemed nice enough, but they weren't family and everyone seemed just the tiniest bit on edge around them. It saddened Beth a little that they had to be so wary of strangers, but that's the way the world was and they had all learned their lessons.

She and Daryl hadn't had very much time alone since they were separated at the funeral home. What time they did spend together was like this: a quiet, calm break from crowded camp life. Daryl had reinstated their tracking and crossbow lessons without any overt invitation. One morning as he was leaving camp to hunt, he brushed past and gave her a purposeful bump on the shoulder. When she looked up, he was still walking but he peered back over his shoulder and gave a little "let's go" nod. She let Maggie - who was surprised but not contrary - know where she was going and that she would be back later before jogging to catch up with Daryl.

She had been unreasonably thrilled at the idea of resuming her education in the ways of the woods. She couldn't deny that she was happy to have quiet time with only Daryl. It was stupid and the thought made her feel guilty, but she sometimes almost missed it just being the two of them.

That first day had been a little awkward. It took some time before they found their rhythm again, but they were working well together soon enough. They'd been traveling for a while now, a few weeks maybe, and she was joining him pretty regularly on his hunts. She always waited for an invitation. Sometimes he needed time by himself, which she totally understood.

Today, though, was a good day. The sun was shining through the leaves, Daryl had her back, and she was sure they were gonna bag something big for dinner. She was nervous today, too, and a touch of anxiety came back to her as a small crunch made her very aware of Daryl's presence behind her. Today was a make it or break it day, and her confidence and her doubt were battling for dominance.

Beyond their time in the woods, he seemed torn between avoiding her and trying to get her attention. The day they'd found each other, he'd been continually glancing at her and asking after her. Clearly he'd missed her at least a little while they were apart. Weeks later, she still caught him looking sometimes, even when he was keeping distance between them. She wouldn't even have noticed if she hadn't been looking at him, too.

Sometimes he'd touch her to get her attention, and he always asked if she needed anything when he made a run. She hadn't noticed how used to his touches when they were alone she'd been until they were together again and he hardly made physical contact with her at all. She missed it. He didn't really talk to her more than necessary, either, and she didn't want to bother him too much if he wanted to keep space between them. She made sure he knew his friendship was still welcome, though, and asked if he needed anything or if he'd like to spend time with Judith as often as she could without feeling like she was overstepping her bounds.

Beth thought maybe he felt awkward about their last moments together in that kitchen, when he'd given away way more than he'd probably meant to. The way they left off did make things a little difficult, she guessed, but that look had made her think. Before that, of course she had noticed things about him. He was good-looking, brave, and clever. He was a good person. So maybe there had already been a seed planted in her mind, but that night his quiet… well, what felt like a confession, had made it germinate.

In their time apart, she'd thought about him a lot. She held onto hope and a gut feeling that said he was still alive. The more she clung to the idea of him, the more that little seed grew. She told herself that she was making too much out of it, that she was making up stories to help her survive.

But when she saw him again, all bloodied up and out of breath, her heart had practically leapt out of her chest. The weeks since then hadn't lessened her feelings as she thought they would have. She quickly calmed down and stopped feeling like a teenager meeting a pop idol within a few days, but the undeniable affection didn't go away. Though it steadied itself, it was constant and still gave a little jolt when they caught each other staring. She knew in those moments that what she felt for Daryl was something new to her, something more concrete than what she had ever felt for anyone else.

It wasn't hard to convince herself that he felt the same way. The slowly increasing frequency of looks and touches spoke volumes in her opinion. His arm didn't consistently graze Glenn's when he walked past, and he really didn't look so hard at Maggie or Sasha that they could feel it all the way across camp. Her confidence was especially bolstered when an ever-observant Michonne casually informed her that Daryl had personally picked out two of her new shirts and her new favorite bracelet.

She had taken that and run with it. She made sure the he saw her admiring or toying with the bracelet a few times. One day while she was following what turned out to be an armadillo, she had been ridiculously pleased with herself when she thanked him for it and he was flustered enough to fall back a step. Later she had a weird amount of fun watching him figure out how to clean the "stupid armored rat," which he'd never done before.

So, after deliberating for days, Beth decided that today was the day she'd tackle the issue head-on. It had been hard to decide how she was gonna go about it, but she finally made up her mind this morning, just before Daryl requested that she tag along. She decided it was a sign and that despite the jitters she felt every time she thought of it, today was the day.

She kept her eyes on the trail and paused for a moment because maybe it veered left… No, it definitely kept going straight, if a little to the right. She took a few steps before she felt a touch of doubt. She frowned and looked back at Daryl.

"This way, right?"

Daryl shrugged and rubbed his chin as he brought his eyes up from the ground to meet hers. "What d'you think?"

Beth sighed and studied the signs in front of her again. She should've known better by now than to ask, and maybe she'd been staring at the dirt and undergrowth long enough that she was starting to overthink it. She decided she was right and kept going. Tracking game this size, Daryl would definitely say something if she was wrong but he kept his mouth shut, so she must have been right. If she were correct and it was a pig or a deer, it would feed them for a while, and he wouldn't risk losing something like that just to teach her a lesson.

Path decided, she went back to her second most important task of the day. She'd spent all morning trying to find the right time. When they found a solid lead, when they reached that particular oak tree, the next time she saw a pine cone. When those things happened, though, she kept deciding it wasn't the time. She hoped it was intuition that made her wait instead of cowardice.

Beth finally made a bargain with herself, though: if what she was tracking was a deer and if she was the one to kill it, that was when she'd make her move. Otherwise, she'd have every excuse to chicken out, because that was part of the deal, right? She was still anxious because she was determined to bring home dinner, and that meant she'd have to act. She wasn't going to find an excuse to back out again.

She stopped quietly and was a little proud of herself for not jumping when Daryl quickly reached forward and touched her wrist. Part of her noted, he could've just tapped your shoulder, but she stifled that tiny notion. She was glad they were still adept at communicating wordlessly when she turned to ask him What?

With just a look and a gesture, he managed to tell her to get low and be quiet. She guessed they were close and was glad; her arms had started to tremble and she'd been just about ready to lower the stupidly heavy crossbow. She would've continued to creep forward, but his hand wrapped around her wrist and he held her back as he told her to look forward with his other hand.

After a few moments, a well-fed buck crept cautiously into their line of sight. Daryl released Beth's wrist to let her aim and she gave the deer all of her attention, thoughts of the other thing quickly silenced. She breathed the way she'd been taught but didn't spend too long centering herself. She'd learned enough to know that with fast animals, especially big ones, it was always a now-or-never thing.

She took one more carefully quiet breath as she finalized her aim. A pull of the trigger, a tug forward, and the bolt was deep in the buck's neck, close to his jaw. The animal gave a weak cry and managed to stumble a few feet before he collapsed. Beth felt sorry for him, but prouder of herself. Her family would eat fresh meat tonight, and she was the one who made it happen.

A grin spread across her face as she stood and finally let her arms and the crossbow drop. She felt Daryl's hand on her back and looked up at him. She wasn't expecting much praise - an "attagirl" would have been plenty - but he stared at the deer for a moment before he looked at her. He was actually smiling, or damn near, and his hand moved up from her back to touch her head for the barest second.

"Good job," he said as he quickly broke contact and left her for the deer. He pulled out his knife along the way in case it wasn't finished, but he seemed satisfied that she'd managed to kill it all by herself and slid the blade back into its sheath before yanking the bolt from the buck's throat.

He wiped the blood off on his pants as he turned back to her. Beth couldn't move for a second as her promise to herself came to the forefront of her mind. She was suddenly filled with butterflies as she avoided eye contact and carefully laid the crossbow on the ground next to her. He wouldn't tell her anything for wanting to put it down and give her poor arms a rest.

"You good?" he asked. There was a note of genuine concern in his voice. Did she really look that nervous? She stared at a tree for a moment and took a deep breath. Don't you dare turn coward now, she commanded herself.

"Yeah. Yeah, I just needed to talk to you about somethin'," she said, finally bringing her eyes to his face. She felt her expression change as she moved toward him, and she didn't know what Daryl saw there, but it was his turn to look a little less than confident.

"This is nuts," she said, keeping her eyes on his face. No looking away, no weakness. You can do this. "I'm gonna… " She hesitated too long, trying to find the right words. He wasn't some stupid teenage boy; he was Daryl Dixon. Friend and family and someone she'd have to look at every day if this went south. Now was the time to back out if she wasn't ready.

Even though Daryl seemed a apprehensive, he saved her some effort and decision-making by nearly closing the distance between them. Did he know what she was planning, or was it just instinct?

"What?"

"I'm gonna do somethin'," she said, managing not to break eye contact. Lord, his eyes were pretty. "If you like it, then great. We can work from there. If you don't we'll just pretend it never happened and never talk about it again, okay?" She didn't give him a chance to answer, though.

Beth took one last step forward and grabbed a handful of Daryl's shirt to pull herself up and forward. She raised herself up on her toes to touch her lips to his. Her eyes closed upon contact and she tried to savor the feeling in case he pushed her away in the next second.

He seemed like the sort of guy to have chapped lips, but they weren't. They were smooth and warm and still. She realized he'd gone stock-still at her touch, and her heart sank. She dropped back down onto her heels and her fist tightened around the fabric of his shirt before she let it fall to her side. She'd thought the signs were there, but maybe she'd misread them. She let go of him and was about to step back when his hand came up to touch her elbow.

She paused to look up at him, and his face was incredible. It was the same expression he'd worn in that kitchen, but more. His look then was an admission, but now it was mixed with surprise and maybe, maybe a touch of happiness.

"Sorry," he said, surprising her. His voice was a little hoarser than it had been. "You didn't give me a whole lotta time t' process."

Beth glanced at her shoes before looking back at him. His hand was still on her arm, and she brought both of hers up to hover for a second before clutching his shirt again. "I guess I chickened out pretty fast," she admitted. "Can I try again?"

He couldn't find any words, but he answered by giving her arm a small squeeze and inclining his head the tiniest bit. His eyes dropped to her mouth and she couldn't help but smile a little bit as she moved to kiss him again. She waited a little longer than before to give him time to adjust.

This time there was barely any hesitation before he leaned into the kiss and moved his mouth against hers, and she reciprocated gladly. She'd taken the first big step; as long as he wasn't pushing her away, he was welcome to take the lead. His other hand moved uncertainly and without breaking away, Beth grasped it and moved it to her waist before moving her own hand up to his neck. She hadn't been kissed like this before. Soft and sweet, with butterflies in her belly but a light in her heart, too. Who knew Daryl, of all people, could kiss like this?

The kiss might have lasted for long minutes or short seconds, but they broke apart sooner than Beth would have liked. They held on for a second longer and breathed, taking a moment to assure themselves that that had really just happened, before stepping away from each other. It almost felt to Beth like Daryl had to put a little bit of effort into releasing his grip on her waist.

He cleared his throat and tried to find something other than Beth's face to look at, finally settling on the near-forgotten deer. He quickly hoisted it over his shoulder, and she bent to pick up the crossbow and the bolt he'd dropped. He kept looking over at her while they got situated and ready to head back to camp, and she felt herself turning red.

"Which one?" she asked.

"Which what?"

"Do we work from here, or do we pretend it never happened?" She immediately regretted asking, because he could always want to pretend it didn't happen, but he didn't let her worry for more than an instant.

He shifted the buck's weight and again gave her that look of complete affection that made her heart swell. "I think we'll figure somethin' out. C'mon." He abruptly dropped her gaze and started walking. She had to wonder if he was embarrassed, but she didn't really care.

The signs were all there, and she damn well knew how to read them.

So, this is my first Bethyl fic that can be considered more than a ficlet. I wrote this in the wee hours while I was drinking, so I apologize if there are any typos or if the wording is awkward in places.

If you like it (or hate it), I'd appreciate any sort of feedback. Anyway, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.